Baidu, China sued by eight New York residents for censorship

Baidu (BIDU.NASDAQ), China’s biggest search engine, was sued by eight New York residents who claim the company helps the government censor pro-democracy sentiment, Bloomberg reported. The plaintiffs charge Baidu and the Chinese government of censoring and banning their “writings, publications and coverage of pro-democracy events” from the search engine and seek US$16 million in damages, according to a complaint filed yesterday in Manhattan. They also claim Baidu and China violated New York State civil rights laws. Google (GOOG.NASDAQ) pulled its search engine out of China last year, as the country requires websites to self censor pornography, gambling and content critical of the ruling Communist Party. Two of the plaintiffs’ addresses are in Flushing, a neighborhood in Queens, New York, which has a large concentration of Chinese-speaking Americans.

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